Most production companies give discounts on future films if you pre-order a movie. They are called tie ins and it's done all the time. You pre-orde or even just buy a movie and inside the case is a discount coupon for the purchase of a new movie ticket. It's a part of promoting the new film. (I work in film and this is part of the post-production & then-later the marketing budget. This is a very common occurrence, and most production companies work with their distributors to make this happen because they contract out their marketing. Very few production companies do their own marketing, even if it's under their name, they've contracted out the use of their name to the contractor.
Your metaphor is "valid-ish", but it is perfectly reasonable to expect a discount for buying the same content because in essence they are, they are just paying more to access the content in an easier way. If you would like a more clear example of this being a "don't have to pay twice" scenario just look up how Disney does it. All movies that you buy through Disney comes with a serial number. You go to their website, which is contracted out to a third-party mind you, and you type in the serial number and boom you have access to your movie electronically even when you don't have the disc. Sony does this as well. Most major production companies are moving in this direction. (They literally advertise this service on most new movies you purchase at the beginning of the film...)
Most production companies give discounts on future films if you pre-order a movie. They are called tie ins and it's done all the time. You pre-orde or even just buy a movie and inside the case is a discount coupon for the purchase of a new movie ticket. It's a part of promoting the new film. (I work in film and this is part of the post-production & then-later the marketing budget. This is a very common occurrence, and most production companies work with their distributors to make this happen because they contract out their marketing. Very few production companies do their own marketing, even if it's under their name, they've contracted out the use of their name to the contractor.
Your metaphor is "valid-ish", but it is perfectly reasonable to expect a discount for buying the same content because in essence they are, they are just paying more to access the content in an easier way. If you would like a more clear example of this being a "don't have to pay twice" scenario just look up how Disney does it. All movies that you buy through Disney comes with a serial number. You go to their website, which is contracted out to a third-party mind you, and you type in the serial number and boom you have access to your movie electronically even when you don't have the disc. Sony does this as well. Most major production companies are moving in this direction. (They literally advertise this service on most new movies you purchase at the beginning of the film...)
The only problem is that D&D books don't have unique serial numbers.
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"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Just like D&D used to do with all their books, movies are shrinkwrapped...
Shrinkwrapped books don't sell as well as books that potential buyers can page through a bit before buying.
The reason movie sales aren't similarly impacted by shrink-wrap is twofold: most movies have been viewable in a theater before becoming available in that shrink-wrapped purchasable form, and just about any movie that exists has a trailer a person can watch before buying to figure out if they are interested or not.
Just like D&D used to do with all their books, movies are shrinkwrapped...
Shrinkwrapped books don't sell as well as books that potential buyers can page through a bit before buying.
The reason movie sales aren't similarly impacted by shrink-wrap is twofold: most movies have been viewable in a theater before becoming available in that shrink-wrapped purchasable form, and just about any movie that exists has a trailer a person can watch before buying to figure out if they are interested or not.
I looked for data concerning sales of shrink wrapped books over non shrink wrapped books and didn't find any. Could you please post a link to said data that you're using to make the statement that shrinkwrapped books don't sell as well? I'm sure you just forgot and didn't just make something up out of thin air right? Abraham Lincoln posted on his Facebook how that isn't very honest at all... (Now there actually IS data that can easily be looked up that shows that most books are purchased online. That kinda nulls out the excuse of not being able to open the book beforehand) [Just because you do something doesn't mean everybody else does it that way. There are actually statistics out there]
Just like movies have websites you can visit to see said trailer, there are websites you can go to to look up reviews and see blurbs of a book you're interested in.
You can continue to make excuses to fit your narrative but this was an easily avoidable issue for WotC and with a little effort can be a fixable one for the future.
Something that seems to have been ignored in all of these discussions is that there are MULTIPLE 3rd parties, who are providing legitimate digital access to the D&D rules.
So, for Wizards of the Coast, any plan to start adding some sort of voucher to the D&D physical books needs to:
Have an agreement in place with all of these 3rd parties about the commercials of this (D&D Beyond, Roll 20, Fantasy Grounds etc).
Have a plan about redemption of that voucher - does it give a discount off the digital purchase, or cover the entire digital purchase?
Increase the price of the physical book, to cover the lost income from the digital purchase. It would be nice if stuff was genuinely free, but that just can't work - you involve more companies and they NEED income to function as a business. Yes, this scheme would mean that instead of spending $40 on a book, then $30 on a digital version, you're probably spending $60-$70 on the book, so you can get the "free" digital version with it.
Does the voucher apply to all 3rd party sites? If yes, then your PHB purchase is now looking like it's going to be over $100, so you can get the free digital content. If not, then you need some framework that gets all of the 3rd party sites to talk to each other, so when it's redeemed on one of them, the others know to not allow the used voucher code.
Now, say you are Curse and would like to discuss some sort of voucher/shrinkwrap scheme with WotC. You almost instantly need to bring the other partners to the table for this discussion. There is back-end development and cost required from everyone involved, as well as actually creating the vouchers.
I am not saying that none of this can happen, but I am pointing out that due to the multiple companies involved, the whole situation is massively more complicated than, "just add vouchers and shrinkwrap to the books" and carries a lot of financial risk for WotC if it goes wrong and people are able to exploit voucher codes somehow.
You can continue to make excuses to fit your narrative but this was an easily avoidable issue for WotC and with a little effort can be a fixable one for the future.
It seems to me that you're the only one here making excuses to justify why you think you're entitled to something for free.
I looked for data concerning sales of shrink wrapped books over non shrink wrapped books and didn't find any. Could you please post a link to said data that you're using to make the statement that shrinkwrapped books don't sell as well? I'm sure you just forgot and didn't just make something up out of thin air right?
Sorry, my data comes direct from booksellers I've known and interacted with in my life. Yes, I release there is a chance that it is just those few booksellers that make up my sample (even though said sample spans 7 U.S. States, 17 cities, and often more than one store in each city) that see lower sales on shrinkwrapped books compared to those that aren't shrinkwrapped, but I'm a betting man - and it's a lot more likely that my non-survey data is representative of the statistical norm than it is that I'm so lucky as to only ever "roll" the rare result when picking booksellers to speak with about sales (where once the conversation even started with "Hey Tom, can I unwrap one of these? No way in hell I'm buying it without a look at its contents." because these websites you mention where reviews and blurbs of niche book products can be found definitely didn't exist at the time, even if they are hidden somewhere on the net these days.)
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Most production companies give discounts on future films if you pre-order a movie. They are called tie ins and it's done all the time. You pre-orde or even just buy a movie and inside the case is a discount coupon for the purchase of a new movie ticket. It's a part of promoting the new film. (I work in film and this is part of the post-production & then-later the marketing budget. This is a very common occurrence, and most production companies work with their distributors to make this happen because they contract out their marketing. Very few production companies do their own marketing, even if it's under their name, they've contracted out the use of their name to the contractor.
Your metaphor is "valid-ish", but it is perfectly reasonable to expect a discount for buying the same content because in essence they are, they are just paying more to access the content in an easier way. If you would like a more clear example of this being a "don't have to pay twice" scenario just look up how Disney does it. All movies that you buy through Disney comes with a serial number. You go to their website, which is contracted out to a third-party mind you, and you type in the serial number and boom you have access to your movie electronically even when you don't have the disc. Sony does this as well. Most major production companies are moving in this direction. (They literally advertise this service on most new movies you purchase at the beginning of the film...)
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
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Just like D&D used to do with all their books, movies are shrinkwrapped with a little voucher inside them that has a unique serial number on them.
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" -- allegedly Benjamin Franklin
Tooltips (Help/aid)
Shrinkwrapped books don't sell as well as books that potential buyers can page through a bit before buying.
The reason movie sales aren't similarly impacted by shrink-wrap is twofold: most movies have been viewable in a theater before becoming available in that shrink-wrapped purchasable form, and just about any movie that exists has a trailer a person can watch before buying to figure out if they are interested or not.
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D&D Beyond FoundersSomething that seems to have been ignored in all of these discussions is that there are MULTIPLE 3rd parties, who are providing legitimate digital access to the D&D rules.
So, for Wizards of the Coast, any plan to start adding some sort of voucher to the D&D physical books needs to:
Now, say you are Curse and would like to discuss some sort of voucher/shrinkwrap scheme with WotC. You almost instantly need to bring the other partners to the table for this discussion. There is back-end development and cost required from everyone involved, as well as actually creating the vouchers.
I am not saying that none of this can happen, but I am pointing out that due to the multiple companies involved, the whole situation is massively more complicated than, "just add vouchers and shrinkwrap to the books" and carries a lot of financial risk for WotC if it goes wrong and people are able to exploit voucher codes somehow.
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Sorry, my data comes direct from booksellers I've known and interacted with in my life. Yes, I release there is a chance that it is just those few booksellers that make up my sample (even though said sample spans 7 U.S. States, 17 cities, and often more than one store in each city) that see lower sales on shrinkwrapped books compared to those that aren't shrinkwrapped, but I'm a betting man - and it's a lot more likely that my non-survey data is representative of the statistical norm than it is that I'm so lucky as to only ever "roll" the rare result when picking booksellers to speak with about sales (where once the conversation even started with "Hey Tom, can I unwrap one of these? No way in hell I'm buying it without a look at its contents." because these websites you mention where reviews and blurbs of niche book products can be found definitely didn't exist at the time, even if they are hidden somewhere on the net these days.)